(CNN) - Ron Paul will hit the trail in Iowa on Monday with his son, Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, to make a final pitch to caucus goers in the Hawkeye State.

The father-son duo will embark on a whistle-stop tour, visiting five counties one day before the nation's first Republican nominating contest on Tuesday.- Follow the Ticker on Twitter: @PoliticalTicker

Sen. Paul, a junior senator who rode the tea party wave to election in 2010, last week appeared in a Christmas Day television ad for the Texas congressman.

"My father taught me the value of commitment to faith, family and our constitution," the Kentucky senator said in the ad. "He's always stayed true to his principles and convictions."

Sen. Paul also stumped for his father over the summer ahead of the closely-watched Ames Straw Poll in Iowa, returning the favor after his dad campaigned for him during his Senate run last year.

"We were privileged to witness the historic occurrence of a sitting U.S. Senator campaigning for his father, a sitting member of the U.S. House of Representatives," said Paul's Iowa Chairman Drew Ivers in a statement. "Now, we are seeing Senator Paul support his father on the eve of the pivotal Iowa Caucus where we are hopeful that Ron Paul achieves a strong top-three finish."

Paul has seen his momentum swell in recent days, as several Iowa polls show him surging to front-runner status.

According to the latest CNN/TIME/ORC International Poll, Paul placed second among likely GOP caucus goers, pulling in 22% of support and trailing Romney by three percentage points, a margin well within the sampling error.
- CNN's Shannon Travis contributed to this report.

soundoff(35 Responses)

edhoward

Fact Check: "Ron Paul can't win" – FALSE
Short of the economy tanking, carving off chunks of Obama's support is the only way to win.

THE YOUTH VOTE
The youth vote which Obama won by 34% in 2008 is abandoning him. Ron Paul has proven strong appeal with the young voters. He is by far the best candidate capable of not only appealing to this demographic but energizing it towards defeating Obama. Anyone who thinks the youth vote will abandon Obama for one of the other candidates is kidding themselves. This is one of Obama's Achilles heals and ONLY Ron Paul can not only exploit it – but use it against Obama.

MILITARY
Most Americans think that with Bin Laden dead, our job is done and we should bring the troops home. Obama is vulnerable on this issue against Ron Paul. Any other GOP candidate will galvanize these supporters to Obama. Ron Paul is the ONLY candidate who appeals to these voters disenchanted with Obama – carving away votes.

DRUG WAR
76% of Americans agree with RP that the federal war on drugs is a failure, in fact, only 8% think it has been a success. 89% of the people who voted for Obama 4 years ago believe the war on drugs is a failure. Ron Paul is the ONLY candidate who is positioned to cleave off a chunk of these Obama supporters. Any other GOP candidate will galvanize these supporters to Obama.

POLITICIANS
A record number of Americans do not trust politicians. Obama is a status quo politician, Romney is the poster child of insider politician. Ron Paul is the anti-politician and a doctor – and Americans have a high level of trust in doctors. Ron Paul is the candidate who can appeal to these voters and most effectively take votes from Obama while taking on Obamacare. Consistent on opposing mandates and ObaMass-care.

ENERGIZED ARMY OF SUPPORTERS
Obama is not going to be defeated by a slick DC Beltway campaign alone. It is going to take a nationwide passionate, energized army of supporters. Ron Paul has clearly demonstrated that he can energize his base of supporters like no other candidate can. You and I both know that if Ron Paul isn't the nominee, this army of energy disappears. But with Paul as the nominee, this army will mushroom.

FALSE – "Ron Paul Can't Win".
When you look at what it will take to beat Obama (assuming the economy doesn't tank), Ron Paul is the only candidate that can beat Obama. Ron Paul's message isn't engineered to win a GOP beauty contest – it's engineered to beat Obama.

December 30, 2011 03:04 pm at 3:04 pm |

Rudy NYC

Joe from CT, not Lieberman scared the living daylights out of me.

Wanna hear something scary? Because Rand Paul lives in Tennessee and Ron Paul lives in Texas, in theory if the Republican Party completely loses its senses and nominated Ron for President, Rand could technically be his Vice-Presidential candidate!
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Oh. Oh my, oh my, oh my. Good call, Joe.

December 30, 2011 03:06 pm at 3:06 pm |

m j cullinane

Two great leaders of our time

December 30, 2011 03:08 pm at 3:08 pm |

m j cullinane

World war 3 is about to begin unless ron is president

December 30, 2011 03:11 pm at 3:11 pm |

Rudy NYC

Mainstream Media Brainwashes You wrote:

So what you're saying is that he is NOT a racist, right? Ron Paul isn't a racist. Educate yourself on what it means to be a libertarian.
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No one said being a libertarian means you are a racist. Critics say that Ron Paul is a bigot who has libertarianism an extreme makeover. Between Ron and Rand, they have given the movement a bad name. An example of a middle of the road libertarian would be former Republican Presidential candidate Gov. Johnson. He disagrees with Paul on matters of degree on just about everything that you can think of.

December 30, 2011 03:11 pm at 3:11 pm |

J.R. USAF

Just about every one of you idiots that have commented on this page needs to go walk blindfolded into oncoming traffic. Some of the comments on here are absolutely ridiculous. Ron Paul is the only candidate that has not changed his campaign promises to appeal to the voters. I truly hope this man wins the election, America needs a man like this in office. Also if you want to talk about racism, take a look at the so call unbiased media. They treat Mr. Paul as if he were a disease, refusing to even acknowledge him. That's just sad!

December 30, 2011 03:20 pm at 3:20 pm |

James Choate

Who is afraid of smaller government? Obviously the BLOATED BUREAUCRATS that have jobs in govt who are responding here! They produce nothing & protect us from nothing that our states can't outside of our military & intelligence agencies! READ if you want to know more about the man & his life. Don't buy into a sound byte by flash in the pan journalists like Wolf, Maddow, actually anyone in the media! Just READ until your eyes bleed & your heart understands. Look up NON-INTERVENTIONIST VS. ISOLATIONIST for beginners.

December 30, 2011 03:26 pm at 3:26 pm |

Jonathan Farley

I believe in this country and the citizens that build it day in and day out. I, however, have trouble believing that so many people put such low worth in liberty. Liberty should not be fringe. It is your not just your birth right, its your human right. Cherish it, defend it and ensure that our children's children will have it.

December 30, 2011 03:35 pm at 3:35 pm |

dreamer96

Ron Paul a long time member of the John Birch Society...That alone would have kept him from getting a Top Secret Clearance in the U.S. military...but Ron Paul is in the Congress, just signs a piece of paper and has access to TS material...but as commander in chief how does that work...Someone in command of the military that would not even have access if he was a member of the military...kinda like Dick Cheney, Newt Gingrich, Mitch Mcconnell....

December 30, 2011 03:41 pm at 3:41 pm |

steve harnack

A family of anti-politician politicians. No wonder they are Republikans, they fit right in with the party of schizophrenia!